Into the Tempest

Thursday, April 3, 2014

I’m crazy excited to be part of the YA Scavenger Hunt again
this Spring.

The amazing Colleen Houck organized this hunt
as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus
material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome
prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from
each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you
can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team!But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours! This time, I’m a member of
the RED team (the best team, LOL ;) and am hosting the amazing and fabulous Tera Lynn Childs. She’s a terrific writer
and the fun playlist she's contributed fits her awesome, wonderful, fantastic book perfectly!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of theRed team--but there is also a blue team for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the
authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go
to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should
have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the
grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by DATE, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Today, I am hosting Tera Lynn Childs on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt! Tera is one of my dearest friends and I am thrilled beyond measure to have her here on my blog :)

Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning author of the mythology-based Oh.My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, the mermaid tales Forgive My Fins, Fins Are Forever and Just For Fins, and a kick-butt trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa that includes Sweet Venom, Sweet Shadows, and Sweet Legacy. She has published two e-novellas, Goddess In Time and Pretty In Pearls, and self-published her City Chicks sweet chick lit series. Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

You can find out more about her fabulous book, Pretty in Pearls, from the Forgive My Fins, series here!

As
Princess Lily’s emissary, Peri works hard to make sure her best friend
knows all the goings on in the underwater kingdom of Thalassinia. The
upcoming Sea Harvest Dance means plenty of fun for them, too, including
shopping for jewels, trims, and dress making supplies. Peri especially
loves the pearls she finds at Thalassinia’s marketplace—and she might be
falling head over fins for Riatus, the thoughtful pearl trader who
looks like a dashing pirate.

When Lily realizes her friend has a
crush, she is determined to help them get together in time for the
dance—except her matchmaking efforts backfire, sweeping Peri into
dangerous depths and tangled in confusing tides. Should Peri give up on
Riatus and find a different date to the Sea Harvest Dance, or will they
finally find a way to float along the same current?

Thursday, October 3, 2013

I’m crazy excited to be part of the YA Scavenger Hunt again
this Fall. This time, I’m a member of
the GOLD team (the best team, LOL ;) and am hosting the amazing and fabulous
Eliza Tilton. She’s a terrific writer
and the exclusive content below has me chomping at the bit to get my hand’s on
her book!

THE YA SCAVENGER HUNT IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED :)

Friday, March 1, 2013

Since it's Friday and I just finished a final run through of the Tempest Revealed page proofs, I thought I'd put a quick new snippet up for you. Hope you enjoy :) And if you're in the area, don't forget to come see me this weekend in San Antonio and Austin. The times and places are below this post :)

As soon as Mark had disappeared into the crowd, Logan turned to me and, in the smarmiest voice possible, said, “Finally.Alone at last. I thought he’d never leave.”

I laughed. “If by alone you mean in the middle of three thousand people, then yes, we’re alone.”

“That’s exactly what I meant. And since we’re all by ourselves . . .” He nudged me with his shoulder until I got the message and scooted over into Mark’s spot. He followed me, moving until there was an obvious gap between the others and us. With the noise of the game all around us, we might as well
have been in our own little world.

“Since we’re alone?” I prompted, too amused to be wary. This was Logan and I knew he would never say or do anything to hurt me.

“Are you going to tell me where you’ve really been for the last year? Because if you’ve been surfing the North Shore then I’m the biggest Barney on the block. And darlin’, I’m nobody’s Barney.”

It’s true, he wasn’t. Logan knew me better than almost anyone. Lying to him this last year hadn’t been easy, despite all my absences, but I hadn’t had a choice. I still didn’t. I’d already violated Pacific law by telling Mark what I was. Adding Logan to the mix was out of the question.

I started to laugh his questions off, to tell him he was being ridiculous, but the look on his face said he was calling my bluff, even before I offered it. His deep blue eyes were steady on mine, his mouth set in a straight line completely unlike the smile he usually wore. And his body language, his serious, no bullshit demeanor, told me there was only one right answer to this question.

Monday, February 25, 2013

I'm thrilled to announce two booksignings I'm involved with this coming weekend. First off, I'll be on a panel and doing a signing with the awesome Mary Lindsay, Jordan Dane and Emily McKay in San Antonio at the La Cantera Barnes and Noble. That signing is set up for 12 o'clock on March 2nd.

I'll be signing Soulbound, Doomed and the Tempest series, at each bookstore, so stop by and see me. I 'll have lots of fun swag and some cool stories to tell. And chocolate. It's not a booksigning without chocolate ;)

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Hi Everyone, sorry for the delay in announcing Friday's winner but I have been sick, sick, sick :( So, with no further ado, the winner of the prize pack is Grace!!! Email me at tracydeebs@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Today, I thought I'd do a quick post about books I'm absolutely loving right now, so here goes:

Homeland by Cory Doctorow: If you read nothing else this month, read this book. Or, it's predecessor, Little Brother. Cory is an amazing writer and he has the knack of creating conflicted characters who are truly, deep-down good even when they are terrified. Seriously-- this is one of my favorite series. EVER.

The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life by Tara Altebrando: I fell in love with Tara's writing when I got an ARC of The Dreamland Social Club right around the time that Tempest Rising was hitting the shelves. When I saw her second book on the shelves the other day, I picked it up with a huge squee of delight-- and ran home to read it as fast as I could. The story of a kick-ass senior scavenger hunt, it's a lot of fun and yet very reflective as well.

The Farm by Emily McKay: Have to put this on here because it's SUCH A GOOD BOOK. Yes, Emily is a dear friend of mine and yes I would pimp her book even if I didn't like it, but honestly, this book is amazing. Interesting, well-written, with some great edge-of-your-seat thrills. And Carter. OMG, Carter. Enough said.

Hope these books help get you over the whole middle of the week doldrums. Happy Wednesday!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Thought I'd shake things up a little bit today, with a few snippets from my books and a fun giveaway. But before we get to that, I'm going to be at the Fresh Fiction Teen Event in Dallas this weekend with a ton of other YA authors. Come see me if you get the chance :)

From Tempest Revealed:

“You
wanted to walk,” I told him, making sure not to touch him as I stepped away
from Mark.“So let’s walk.”

Kona
nodded, then led the way down to the water. As soon as my feet touched the
surf, my power welled up inside of me.I
could feel it pushing up against the walls I used to cage it, pouring through
cracks in my defenses until my entire body felt like it was burning up.

I
glanced down, realized with a sinking heart that I was glowing, the phosphorescence
that allowed mercreatures to see each other when deep in the ocean spinning out
of my control.Usually I could tamp it
down when I was on land, lock it away deep inside myself, but tonight that
seemed to be beyond my command.Like so
much of the rest of my life.

I
looked behind me, saw that Mark was staring at the purple luminosity that surrounded
me.I told myself that it was a good thing,
that visual reminders of how different I was could only help convince Mark that
we weren’t right for each other.But
knowing all that didn’t keep my stomach twisting sickly.

“What’s
wrong, Tempest?” Kona asked snidely.“Mark not so down with your mermaid side?”

“Mark
and I are just fine, thank you.”

“Yeah,
I can see that.”He turned away, looked
out at the ocean and I regretted the churlish words.I had no business rubbing my relationship
with Mark in his face.Not when I knew
how much it hurt him—and not when he had done nothing but try to make my whole
transition to being mermaid easier for me.

“Look,
I’m sorry,” I told him.“I didn’t mean—”

He
made a dismissive sound low in his throat.“It doesn’t seem like there’s much you do mean.Right, Tempest?”

“What
are you trying to say?”

He
just stared at me, his enigmatic silver eyes swirling with a mixture of rage
and power and some other emotion I couldn’t begin to identify.

I
sighed in response, frustrated with him and the entire situation.“Fine, if you aren’t going to answer me, can
we at least talk about whatever it is you want to discuss?You came all this way to say it, so it must
be important.”

He
was quiet for so long that I started to think he wasn’t going to answer
me.Then he said the two words I’d been
fearing since I first saw him towering above Mark and me on the beach.

“Hailana’s
dead.”

From Doomed:

“We’ve got to do
something.We can’t just sit here!” I
whisper loudly.

The mother screams again and
I’m out of the car before I can think twice about it.But then,
so is Theo.Even as I do it, I know it’s
a bad move, know we’re probably going to end up getting hurt, but I can’t just
sit here and do nothing while those bastards hurt whoever they want.

“Stop it,” I yell, charging across
the highway towards them.Maybe if we’re
lucky, more people will step up.They
can’t stand against all of us.“Leave
her alone.”

The two men turn to glare at me, and
I freeze under their stares.I can’t
help it.I’ve never seen such dead eyes
in my entire life.There will be no
reasoning with them, no talking them out of leaving her alone. I don’t even have a weapon.

Their gazes rake me from top to
bottom, and I feel the chill all the way down my spine.Eli was right.They’re not going to be content to just hurt
me.Still, I won’t back down, won’t show
fear.Like with any wild animal, it’s
the kiss of death.

I know Theo’s right next to me. I can
feel the warmth radiating from his body. Behind us, Eli is rummaging in the car for
something—I don’t know what.

“Don’t worry, darlin’,” one of them
says in a mockery of a Southern drawl that makes my skin crawl.“There’ll be plenty left for you when we’re
done with her.”

He comes closer and Theo grows even
tenser, though I didn’t know that was possible.He thrusts me behind him, stands up to his full height of six foot eight
inches.And just watches, his face as
blank and intimidating as ever.I know
he’s scared, can feel the fine tremor shaking him, but he doesn’t back down an
inch.

“Isn’t robbing them enough?” Theo
asks.“Get what you need and move on.”

The second man points a pistol at
Theo, cocks it.A scream wells up inside
of me, an apology for putting us in this situation.Already the other men have finished whatever
they were doing up ahead, and are coming towards us.We need to get back in the car before they reach
us, but it’s already too late.I know it
is.

There’s no way they’re going to let
us just walk out of here.

“Why don’t you get back in the car,
son?You don’t want to tangle with
us.”This from the man with the gun.

“I’m already tangling with you and
you need to let that woman go.”

“What I need is to let Mike here
shoot your oversized ass.”

An older man fumbles out of the car
behind us.“Leave those kids alone!” he
shouts.

“Really, Grandpa?Are you going to stop us?”

Two more men get out of their cars
and join us.“You’ve got what you
wanted.Now leave us alone,” the first
one says.

The two bikers exchange a look, like
they know things are getting out of hand.Eli’s behind me now, and he grabs my shoulder, tries to shove me back
towards the truck.“Get in, Pandora.”

Believe me, I want to.But standing here, watching these assholes
figure out that things aren’t going to be as easy as they expect them to, makes
me understand the power of numbers.And
the power of speaking up.I’m not going
to hide until they turn around and leave that woman, and these people, alone.

“Look, I’m going to give you one
more chance,” the biker with the gun growls.“And then someone’s going to die.”He waves the gun around, pointing it at all of us in turn before
focusing it on me.“My friends are
almost here.Get back in your cars and
you won’t be hurt.”

I know he’s right, can hear the
other members of his gang running towards us, cursing.I don’t look, though.I can’t.I’m spellbound as I stare down the barrel of the gun pointed right at my
chest.

“Leave us alone!” someone else
yells.And I can see it in the way the
gun shifts, feel it in the hate emanating from the man pointing it at me.I’m about to die.

I start to drop to the ground at the
same time Theo broadsides me, knocking me halfway to hell and back.I hit the ground hard, Theo on top of me,
just as four shots ring out.

Now for the giveaway: Leave a comment about your favorite book so far of 2013 and be entered to win a bunch of fun Victoria's Secret bath stuff (shower gel, bubble bath, lotion, make-up) and an autographed copy of Emily McKay's The Farm, Ivy Adam's The International Kissing Club and one of my books (your choice).

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Here's another tidbit from Soulbound. Remember to leave a comment to be entered to win a signed copy of Doomed and a gift card from BN or Amazon!

I turn, keep walking. A cab drives by, its For Hire sign lit up, and I tell myself
to hail it. To climb in and let it speed me home. It’s the smart thing to do,
the safe thing, as both the rain and the wind are picking up. And yet I can’t
bring myself to do it. The same electricity that made it impossible for me to
sit still in the theater makes it impossible now for me to do anything but keep
walking.

Lightning splits the sky, lighting up the desolate street
and scaring the crap out of me. I don’t know how a street can look worse when
it’s illuminated by lightning than it does in the eerie glow of a very few
streetlights, but somehow this one does. It doesn’t help that Cesar Chavez,
while bustling during the day, is all but deserted at this time of night—the
occasional car my only company.

I start to run, which is really more of an awkward jog in
Lily’s high heels. Part of me is terrified that I’ll slide on the slippery
street and plunge headfirst into the path of one of those few cars, but I’m
even more terrified of the lightning that is exploding all around me while
thunder rumbles nonstop in the background.

I know I need to get out of the rain, know this kind of
lightning could be deadly. But somehow all the logical parts of my brain—the
parts that should be in control of my decision making process—are shorting out
at once. Instead, I can’t do anything but continue walking, following the
inexorable pull down this street toward goddess only knows what.

I cross side street after side street, huddling against
buildings and under awnings when I can get the shelter. More than once a cab
slows as if to pick me up, but I wave it on. I don’t understand how I know
this, but where I’m going no cab can take me.

Finally the compulsion drags me to the right. I cross the
street and start up Pleasant Valley toward the lake. And just that suddenly I
know where it is I’m heading. To Town Lake.

I just wish I knew why.

I see it, up ahead, and I know I’m right. Especially when
my entire body starts to pulse with the need to hurry, the need to be there
now.

Strangely, it’s the urgency that sets me off, that makes me
remember. When I do, the true fear sets in, a living breathing nightmare inside
of me that feeds on the knowledge and chokes the very air from my lungs.

And still I don’t stop.

I’m almost to the lake now and I stumble off the sidewalk,
head for the grassy knoll that sits a few feet from the water. The ground is
soaked from the storm and my heels immediately sink into the earth until every
step is a challenge. I wince at the sucking sound that comes every time I pull
my foot out of the earth, then cringe more every time I put it back down and the
earth draws it under.

Like it isn’t bad enough I walked out of the Paramount with
no explanation to Lily, no text, nothing. When she finds out I ruined her Jimmy
Choos, she’s going to kill me. Slowly and with great relish.

But even that can’t make me turn back. Nothing can. The
water is calling to me and there’s nowhere to go but forward.

I try to stay on the balls of my feet to protect the shoes
as best I can, but the grass is too slick and the heels too high. Besides, they’re
the only things that give me purchase as I stumble off the grass and onto the
running path that goes around the lake.

I’m under the bridge now, trying to take what little
shelter it provides. The rain is slashing in at an angle, slamming against me
despite the coverage. Still, it’s better than being out in the full force of
the storm—and at least I’m less likely to be struck by lightning.

I pause, take a second to brush my drenched hair back from
my forehead and rub a palm down my face to squeegee the rain from my eyes. I
expect to feel a wave of relief, but the chest-clenching drive to get to the
water doesn’t let up. This isn’t where I’m meant to stop. Hiding here under the
bridge isn’t enough. I take a step closer to the lake. And then another.

As I do, the wind caterwauls through the place, stirring up
the sickly cloying smell of guano. Though the bats haven’t migrated back from
Mexico yet, years and years of the stuff layers the area, creating a stench
that not even the storm can chase away. Usually the scent makes me ill, but tonight
it doesn’t repel me the way that it should. Though I’m having trouble breathing
through my nose, I have no urge to flee. Instead, I want to go closer.

I need to go
closer.

Grabbing on to a tree branch, I use it to steady myself as
I creep down the slope to the water’s edge. The fear is bigger now, nearly
all-consuming. Not for myself, not about what will happen to me, but for what’s
drawing me in. For what I might find down here under this bridge. I don’t know
what I’m doing down here, don’t know what spell I’m under that has brought me
here. But something has and somehow I don’t think it’s for the midwinter view.

Unable to bear the suspense any longer, I drop to my knees
by the edge of the water. Muck squishes under my jeans, causing me to slide a
little as I bend forward to peer into the lake. I don’t see anything, despite
the lights stationed every few yards on the running path, and I fumble for the
flashlight on my key chain.

I shine the small beam at the water, then jump when I see
my reflection on the surface. For a second, I’m surprised that it’s bright
enough to see anything shining off the rippling water, even if the reflection
is little more than a pale oval and tangled fan of short, black hair. Except
the longer I look at it, the more I realize the mirror image is all wrong. It’s
upside down and her eyes are closed. No, not a mirror image I realize as the
water smooths out. Not a reflection at all. The face I see in the lake belongs
to someone else entirely.